Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 Streamlined Electric Locomotive #4859 National Register of Historic Places Listing

She weighs 475,000 pounds. That is a lot of steel to propel down a track at over one hundred miles per hour, but the Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 class did it daily without breaking a sweat. On January 15, 1938, locomotive #4859 made history. It did not just run. This beast of a machine pulled the very first electrified passenger train into the Harrisburg station, completing the PRR's massive, Depression-era electrification project. Before that day, smoky steam engines ruled the line. Suddenly, commuters flew from Philadelphia to Harrisburg on clean, quiet electric power. Workers built #4859 in Altoona. They used a streamlined, welded steel casing that made the locomotive look like a roaring bullet even when parked. Industrial designer Raymond Loewy famously styled those curves, giving America its most iconic train profile. During World War II, this exact locomotive worked overtime, hauling thousands of troops and tons of military freight to support the war effort.

Steam eventually died out, but #4859 kept rolling until her retirement in 1979. Most GG1s went straight to the scrap heap. Not this one. A dedicated group of preservationists saved her from the blowtorch, securing her spot on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. Today, she sits under the historic train shed at the Harrisburg Transportation Center. Rust and time always threaten these steel giants. Yet, her massive frame still commands the platform. She remains the official electric locomotive of Pennsylvania, a heavy metal monument to the days when railroads defined American progress. You can still see the faded pinstripes if you get up close.